Passover Dreams

Airs Friday, March 22 at 2:00 p.m. Fasten your seat belts and pass the chicken soup! Passover Dreams takes us from the Seder table to the edge of the universe. Audio magician Jim Metzner conjures up Albert Einstein, Frederick Douglass, Lenny Bruce and host of other Seder guests to plumb the depths of one of the world's oldest holidays in this Gabriel Award-winning program. The Layers of Passover's “Meaning Questions” are the tools that the Passover celebration offers as it urges us to dig deeper into our lives. Why is this night different from all other nights? What do we mean when we talk about the Promised Land? Peel away one layer and relive the flight with Moses from Egypt. Peel another layer and think about what that means for African Americans. Peel once more and see what it means in America today.

For many people, America is the Promised Land. A Radio Seder Public Radio's veteran producer Jim Metzner offers a meditation on freedom and renewal marking 350 years of Jewish Life in America. Albert Einstein joins Emma Lazarus, Frederick Douglass, two modern rabbis (Joy Levitt and Jonathan Kligler), food critic Joan Nathan, and the spirit of Lenny Bruce. Members of Ulster County's Actors & Writers, including Melissa Leo and Mikhail Horowitz, are featured with Charles Turner as Frederick Douglass. Theodore Bikel hosts the program. Jim Metzner hosts our Seder of ideas, humor and music. Featuring the Music of: Travelling Jewish Theater (Golden Gate Gypsy Orchestra) Debby Freidman, The Journey Continues Alan Lomax archive The Harder They Come A Taste of Passover (New England Conservatory) Songs of Our Fathers, Statman & Grisman Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars Brotherhood of Brass Natalie Merchant's "The House Carpenter's Daughter" Matisyahu, Shake off the Dust The Music of Pesah at BJ (B'Nai Jesurun) Sweet Honey in the Rock Muzsikas Maramaros.